Automate install from CD?
Is there any way to automate the installation of Debian from
CD?
I've got a CD containing the base system and a dozen or so
other packages. Installing from the CD works fine assuming you
babysit the process and answer all the questions correctly.
This introduces extra paperwork and a source for errors to
creep into the process.
What I'd really like to be able to do is have all of the
installer questions pre-answered on the CD so that you can
shove in the CD, turn on the power, and come back in 15
minutes.
I've found FAI, but it requires a network and a server, so it's
just moving the problem to another computer: you've got to
install Linux on and set up the FAI server.
If I understand correctly, there are two stages in the install:
The initial installer asks some questions (keyboard, source
media, etc.). There may not be anything I can do about that.
The .deb packages in basedebs.tar are installed. Presumably
this is being done with dpkg? I've seen postings implying that
intalling a package with dpkg can be automated, but they didn't
make much sense to me. One said
First install the package you want with:
tee package.install.log | dpkg -i package.deb
(Your answers will be logged in the file package.install.log)
The order of the two commands is obviously backwards, but the
posting ended there. The log is going to contain a whole
bucketload of stuff other than your answers, right?
What do you do with the install log once you've got one? I'm
guessing that packages who use debconf can probably be
automated. The ones the prompt the user with questions on
/dev/tty are pretty hopeless, eh? [I've written packages that
do that, so I've dug my own grave...]
If the above log is indeed usefuly, I assume you can you
generate logs of the base debs by doing dpkg-reconfigure on
them?
--
Grant Edwards
grante@visi.com
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